Independent candidate Dexter Kamilewicz, who’s running in Maine’s 1st Congressional District, received a Father’s Day gift a lot better than a new tie or a Home Depot gift card.

At 12:40 a.m. on June 18, his son Benjamin arrived home after serving 11 months in Iraq.

Stationed in Ramadi with the Vermont National Guard, Sgt. Kamilewicz, 30, was assigned the hazardous duty of setting up check points and going door to door in search of insurgents.

“After 11 months going through hell, he’s back,” Kamilewicz said last week. “It’s so much of a relief to have him home.”

Kamilewicz is running for Congress on an anti-war platform, and much of his knowledge of what’s going on in Iraq has come from his son.

“He got shot at every day and mortared every night,” Kamilewicz said. “He’s been in terrible, horrific firefights and seen friends blown up in front of him.”

Politicians, Kamilewicz said, offer plenty of platitudes about the war and honoring the soldiers, but they aren’t doing anything to end the fighting.

“The brutality that they witnessed on a day-to-day basis, nobody really knows but the soldiers,” he said.

Benjamin Kamilewicz has been in the National Guard for about 5½ years. He was recruited for the service’s biathlon team, but instead found himself stationed in a combat zone, Dexter Kamilewicz said.

Benjamin Kamilewicz is a teacher in Vermont and plans to return to his job, his dad said. He’s also been a teacher at Hebron Academy.

“People don’t recognize the horrors they see and the intensity of their days,” Dexter Kamilewicz said. “He’s showing good signs and he’s very circumspect. … Now he needs to decompress.”

Job creation

Barbara Merrill, who’s running for governor as an independent, has hired her first two paid staffers.

Jim Webster has signed on as the campaign manager, and Peter Stowell is the scheduler – the person responsible for managing the candidate’s calendar and appearances.

Popularity contest

Given U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s popularity, it’s no surprise she racking up endorsements.

Two groups have added their name to the growing list. The Republican Main Street Partnership and The WISH List announced last week that they were supporting her re-election campaign.

According to its Web site, the Republican Main Street Partnership was founded in 1998 and supports centrists within the party.

The WISH List raises money and supports pro-choice Republican women at the local, state and national levels.

National Women’s Political Caucus, the League of Conservation Voters and the International Federation of Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO have also endorsed Snowe.

GOP who’s who

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe has also appointed county chairs for her campaign. If you’re not sure who the Republican movers and shakers are in your county, check out the list. The big names are there.

In Androscoggin County, the chairs are Georgia Chomas, Auburn; Albert and Lu Farrington, Auburn (honorary); Lee Young, Auburn (honorary); Rosemarie Butler, Lewiston; Virginia Fowler, Lewiston; Sharon Millett, Poland; Lois Snowe-Mello, Poland; Scott Kauffman, Sabattus; and Josh Morris, Turner.

In Franklin County: Emily Davis, Farmington; Fred O. Smith, Farmington; Charlie Webster, Farmington (honorary); and GOP gubernatorial candidate Chandler E. Woodcock, Farmington (honorary).

In Oxford County: Stanley R. Howe, Bethel; Rebecca P. Kendall, Bethel; David Hastings, Fryeburg; Norman and Barbara Ferguson, Hanover; Richard A. Bennett, Oxford; Caldwell and Diane Jackson, Oxford; Lloyd C. “Skip” Herrick, Paris; and Barbara Robinson, Paris.

On the road

Republican Darlene Curley, candidate in the 1st Congressional District, has launched a Mobile Office Tour.

The candidate, who’s served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives from Scarborough, will set up her “office” outside businesses around the state so that normal people will have the same kind of access she says the special interests have in Washington.

The tour kicked off Thursday with office hours across the street from the Blaine House in Augusta. She’ll be in West Bath and Bath on July 1, Topsham on July 2 and Gray on July 21, just to name a few of the planned stops. Check www.curleyforcongress.com for other dates and possible changes.